Seven years in the making.

China's most passionate love story.

Raise the Red Lantern thrilled audiences in 2002 – don't miss the company's latest extravaganza.

“Irresistible in its integrity, artistry and huge potential” Financial Times

After the phenomenal success of the internationally-acclaimed Raise the Red Lantern, performed at the HKAF in 2002, National Ballet of China has adapted The Peony Pavilion from the most romantic story in Chinese literature.

The stellar international production team includes Academy Award-winning designer Emi Wada. Choreographer Fei Bo rises to the challenge of adopting stylised kun opera movements into Western classical ballet. This visually stunning piece retains the purity and drama of both forms and is enhanced by Michael Simon's starkly effective set design. With principal dancers who have received many international awards and accolades, this production is distinguished by excellence.

Tang Xianzu (1550-1616) wrote this classic tale about love, death and resurrection during the Ming Dynasty. Much more than a love story, The Peony Pavilion affirms the regenerative power of true emotions.

Liu Yang, Si Ting Hong

Producer: Zhao Ruheng
Adaptation and Director: Li Liuyi
Composer and Arranger: Guo Wenjing
Choreographer: Fei Bo
Costume Designer: Emi Wada
Stage Designer: Michael Simon
Live Accompaniment: National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Zhang Yi

National Ballet of China - Ballet Masterclass
09 Feb 2009

1:30 - 3:00pm

No. of participants: 6
Fee: $100
In Putonghua

For professional dancers and advanced dance students from professional dance schools.

National Ballet of China is the only national ballet company in China. Dancers are all graduates of professional dance academies. Participants will join the daily warm-up exercises with members of the company.

Download Application Form.

National Ballet of China Open Class
10 Feb 2009

2:00 - 3:30pm

No. of participants: 30
In Putonghua

Participants will observe the professional training of National Ballet of China. After the training, members and the ballet master will share their experiences and views about ballet.

Free admission tickets are available from Saturday, 20 December 2008 at the Festival Information Counter at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here to check the opening hours of Festival Information Counter.

Much More than Eight Model Plays
National Ballet of China and The Peony Pavilion

By Nancy Pellegrini

China’s “economic miracle” not only has farmers eating better, it has created the world’s fastest growing performing arts scene, featuring solid orchestras and strong modern dance troupes. However, only one group stands apart as indisputably world class. In six short decades, the National Ballet of China (NBC) has evolved from a state-run troupe churning out Petipa favourites to a courageous company that could redefine ballet. In the 2009 Hong Kong Arts Festival, the NBC will present their latest original creation, The Peony Pavilion, at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

Founded in December 1959, the NBC, like China’s classical music programme, was Soviet trained and spent years performing a standard classical repertoire centred on their 1972 work, the Red Detachment of Women, one of the eight model plays that were Cultural Revolution. The company began shedding its shackles when they appointed Zhao Ruheng as Executive Director. A Tianjin-born former NBC principal, Zhao suffered a leg injury in 1972 that finished her dancing career. Although tragic for her, this proved a boon for dance as she began focusing her considerable talents and energy in revolutionising Chinese ballet.

Zhao began reaching out to potential collaborators abroad, who watched and waited until the company was ready. Meanwhile, she presided over the NBC’s first original work, 2001’s Raise the Red Lantern, directed by and based loosely on Zhang Yimou’s film of the same name. In 2005, Roland Petit shepherded the dancers through his Carmen, L’ Arlesienne and Le Jeune Homme et la Mort; the following year, he reworked his Pink Floyd Ballet to fit their particular talents. The legendary choreographer lets only a handful of ensembles perform his work. “I would put the NBC as one of the top five companies in the world,” says Petit. He has even created a pas de deux (The Last Paradise) as a copyright-free gift to the NBC.

It should surprise no one that the company’s principal dancers have racked up international awards – the planet’s largest talent pool combined with rigid Soviet training ensures the group its share of gold medals. The NBC treats its talent with respect; dancers are well paid and live in cosy studio apartments behind the rehearsal rooms. Once a principle, always a principle; dancers do not have to reaudition to keep their position, and aging performers slide gracefully into shorter pieces or character roles. But what sets the NBC apart is their fearless collaborations and associations: the company has worked with, hosted or performed pieces by William Forsythe, John Cranko, Kader Belarbi (commissioned for the NBC), Pina Bausch and the Beijing Modern Dance Company (BMDC). In May of 2007, the company co-hosted the first annual Beijing Dance Festival with LDTX Modern Dance Company. “The NBC is playing a dynamic role in encouraging contemporary performance in China,” says Sarabeth Berman, Company Manager of LDTX. “They see the importance of celebrating uniquely Chinese and historical pieces as well as pioneering internationally minded and innovative work.”

Zhao’s pioneering spirit blazed a radical trail when she approached modern dance wunderkind Akram Khan. “She wanted Khan to create an original work for the company,” his producer Farooq Choudhry says. “I suggested a collaboration.” This was no ordinary mix of classic and modern styles, however; Khan’s company is known for seamlessly blending spoken narrative with barefooted, angular kathak-inspired movements (northern Indian classical dance). Khan chose three NBC dancers who participated in an intensive “theatre workshop week” and for the first time, made their own creative contributions. “Xin (Zhang Zhenxin) was amazing at it,” Khan says. “He proposed his material straight away, the first day. And Ningning (Meng Ningning) created a lot of theatrical material.”

That classically trained dancers were doing barefoot kathak, working in English with multinational performers and developing their own solos is a tribute to the world Zhao has created – however, she realises the importance of producing original works. “I’m sure her goal is not to make the NBC a repertory company for international choreography,” says Alison Freidman, until recently the International Coordinator for BMDC. “This exposure and experience I hope will also lead to developing local choreographic talent. This is still to come,” she continues, “but Madame Zhao has set them on the right road.”

Although 2001’s hugely popular Raise the Red Lantern had outstanding dancing and possibly the most creative and original visual effects in the history of stage, international critics decried the choreography as unspectacular and unmemorable, leaving 2008’s The Peony Pavilion with some big toe shoes to fill. Based on a popular kunqu (Hangzhou local opera) from the Ming Dynasty, The Peony Pavilion tells of Du Liniang, a young woman who falls in love with a dream and dies of a broken heart, but not before she hides a self-portrait in her garden (Hangzhou’s trademark scenery). Several years later, the man of her dreams (who does exist) finds the portrait and is instantly besotted. His love resurrects her and they live happily ever after.

For choreographer Fei Bo, the challenge was adopting stylised kunqu movements into Western classical ballet. The result is a visually stunning piece that retains the purity and drama of both forms. Particularly powerful are the pas de deux between Du Liniang (Zhu Yan) and Liniang of the Flower Goddess (Zhang Jian), resplendent in a liquid costume of red tulle. Michael Simon’s set design illustrates the power of stark simplicity, featuring giant peonies and bundled sticks hanging from the ceiling that cast eerie shadows across the stage. Where The Peony Pavilion falls short, however, is in its East-West balance. Composer Guo Wenjing’s original score is overshadowed by Ravel and Debussy selections. The kunqu elements work perfectly, but the coryphées’s nod to neoclassicism seems out of place. The NBC straddles the fine line between Western and Eastern influences, but taking a great easterly leap forward would have made a bigger impact and a more lasting impression on international ballet. The NBC is aware of this, however, and continues to fine-tune the production, which includes giving Guo Wenjing more of a spotlight.

Either way, audiences will be swept away by The Peony Pavilion’s beauty, and even the harshest critics will have plenty of accolades. More importantly, with each collaboration or original creation, the NBC is one step closer to reinventing ballet. Artistic or not, state-run companies strive for job security, or, at best, for technical competence; churning out an annual Swan Lake would have satisfied most of the Chinese audience. It is a great credit to the dancers, the choreographers and most importantly Zhao herself that the NBC continues to delve into unexplored dance territory, constantly striving for higher standards. “She is a true visionary,” says Friedman. “She has expanded the scope of this government company.” France, Russia, Britain and America have all left their mark on ballet; China will be next, and the NBC will be the company to do so.

Nancy Pellegrini has lived in China for eight years, and is the Classical/Performance Editor of Time Out Beijing magazine.